Chapter 7

Four weeks later, on a Friday in the middle of January, Ryan was at work but all of her attention was on Lara.

"We got it?" Ryan kept her voice down as she gripped the phone. "Are you sure? Are you serious?"

"I know! I know!" Lara all but squeaked. "I'm sure, I'm so sure! I just talked to him and they mean it. Once we calm down, we need to find a lawyer. Trout said his dad will know someone; he'll ask tonight."

"Trout is so very handy, and connected." Ryan grinned. "Oh, my God. I can't believe it! Have you told the guys yet?"

"Well, I tried to call you first but you weren't at your desk and I didn't want to leave a message. So I called Nate and told him. He's going to tell Mitch; God, I wish I could see his face. Both of their faces." Lara laughed and Ryan couldn't stop from joining her.

"This is just the absolute best news. Oh, my God." Ryan slumped back in her chair, euphoria leaving her drained. "Tell me again what he said."

Lara obliged. "He said he thought we had great stage presence, that our music was what they wanted, and he wanted to work out the details as soon as possible."

"Wow. This is just ... amazing." Ryan couldn't believe it. The A&R guy that had been at the 9:30 Club had talked to them for a few minutes, then gone back to wherever A&R guys go. There'd been no word for a while, and they'd all decided that it was probably a bad sign.

Ryan had been bummed about it, but determined to keep going. Besides, other good things had happened, like all the YouTube videos people had posted from the show, and even a mention in the "Names & Faces" section of The Washington Post. That was due to so many members of the Caps being there, but Ryan didn't mind.

"I know. 'Wow' about covers it." Lara took a breath. "I know it will all sink in later, but right now it's like I'm just riding a wave or something."

"I know the feeling." Ryan closed her eyes and smiled.

"I think Trout was as excited as I was," Lara said. "He was all but bouncing off the walls. Hey, what do you think Brody will say?"

"I don't know." Ryan gave a short laugh. "I was just thinking that now I have someone to tell that will care, and who isn't in the band. It's such a novel concept." She was looking forward to telling him, to maybe some sort of celebration. Previously she'd only had Evan to tell, or friends like Annette.

"So, how serious are you guys?" Lara asked, half-teasing.

"Oh, I don't know." That was a tough question, and one she'd been avoiding thinking about. She felt herself getting more attached to Brody all the time, and it seemed mutual. They were both avoiding talking about it, she thought. On the other hand, if things were going well, maybe they should keep not talking about it.

"Come on, Ryan, talk to me."

"It's going really good." Ryan shrugged. "Really. I mean, I'm not sure I would have even bet we'd still be going out at this point, but it's nice. He's nice."

"From a few hints you've dropped, it seems like he's way past 'nice, '" Lara said.

"Well, that's all you're going to get from me, nosy."

"That's not fair. I've told you a lot more than that about me and Trout."

"And yet, somehow, I remain your friend."

"Oh, fine. Let's try another question: has he met your parents yet?"

Ryan made a strangled sound. "Not yet. I know, I know, it'll have to happen. Sometime. I guess."

"Ryan, are you kidding? They'll love him!"

"Yeah, I know. They'll probably adopt him. Maybe we can work an exchange, and his family can adopt me." She'd met Brody's family over the holidays and they'd been great. His parents had been the opposite of hers, pleased with and proud of all their kids, no matter what they did. It had been a kick to see Brody with his nephews, and the family had been thrilled to hear that Brody's sister, Carla, was expecting.

Brody's family had been a marked contrast to her own. Christmas had gone as it usually did. Her brothers came home for the semester break, and she even went back on Christmas Eve to stay the night. Her mother liked to have them home for Christmas, and Ryan counseled herself that it was only one night.

The actual holiday had been about as she'd expected. Her father and JT dominated the day and the conversation with football, Evan had hung out with them, and her mother had dropped none-too-subtle hints about Ryan meeting "someone special." Ryan had bolted back to her apartment at the first opportunity.

"An exchange like that would work," Lara said, drawing Ryan's attention back. "Then you could still go out. Because, I mean, if only one of you got adopted, that'd just be too weird."

Ryan laughed. "It would at that. I guess I'm glad we are where we are, then."

"Still, he'll have to meet them sometime."

"Yeah, I know. They know I'm seeing him; Evan let it slip not long after the gig at the 9:30."

"He let it slip? Were you hiding it?"

"No, not really. I just didn't want to deal with them. Dad has no interest in whether I'm dating, and Mom thinks every guy I see is husband material."

"I know, but you guys have been going out for a while now. He's got to meet them sometime."

"I know, I said I know. He came back from a road trip last night; maybe I'll get it out of the way this week."

Lara laughed. "I love how you make this into some major chore."

"With my parents, it is, and you know it." Ryan glowered at her desk.

"Okay, okay. Look, I have to go. I'll catch you at home later, and we'll have to see about this lawyer thing. I still can't believe it!"

"I can't either." Ryan's happier mood returned. "But we have to do it right, so we'll take it slow and talk to the lawyer and everything."

"Absolutely."

They chatted for another minute and said good-bye, then Ryan looked at the clock. An hour and a half left. She laughed at herself; she felt like a kid waiting to be let out of school.

She hoped Brody would be around, or at least awake. The team had just gotten back from a swing through Columbus and Detroit, with a stop down in Nashville before heading home. Brody had sounded beat when she'd spoken to him earlier. Still, he didn't have to be awake for long, just long enough for her to tell him about the tour.

It was odd to know she'd missed him—missed him a lot—while he'd been gone. Somehow, she hadn't expected to, but she'd found herself going to call him just say hi, or thinking about him before going to sleep and wishing he was with her. She guessed it was mutual; he'd called every day, and some days more than once. If she couldn't answer, he left messages that made her laugh.

What was she going to do? She hadn't had many boyfriends before, and none of those relationships had gotten to this point. She'd never felt this serious about anyone, and if she wanted to know he felt, she'd have to ask. She wasn't sure what answer she wanted.

Ryan shook her head and tried to focus on work.

x-x-x-x

The incessant buzz of his alarm clock usually had Brody up right away, but this time it took him a good ten seconds of flailing before he found the button to shut it off. The team had played the night before, eking out an overtime win against Nashville, and he'd almost fallen asleep in his clothes when he'd gotten home. He lay in bed a while longer before opening his eyes.

His day had so far consisted of going to sleep, waking up and trying to get oriented, then sleeping again. He dragged himself into a shower and felt more awake afterwards, or at least like he'd had enough sleep. There was a game the next night, but he knew he'd be back on track by the next morning.

The first item on his schedule was to see Ryan. He had a vague memory of talking to her that morning, and hoped he'd been coherent at the time. She'd laughed, he was pretty sure, and he took that as a good sign.

She'd been on his mind the whole trip. No previous girlfriend had ever occupied his mind like that, and it was weird; he'd made sure not to tell anyone, not even Bax. He understood guys like Cole and Obie having women on their minds; they were married. Tolya and Sara were pretty serious, so he got that, too. He wasn't sure if he and Ryan were at that point.

He pondered that as he dressed. Maybe they were. He hadn't planned on that, but he knew things didn't always go as planned—such as the pass he'd made in the last game. He'd intended it for Tolya, but it had been picked off by the Nashville forward coming out of the penalty box. Said forward had come within a hair of scoring, but the Caps' goalie, Risztak, had managed to get his glove in the way.

The phone ringing interrupted his thoughts, and he was glad for it, since his thoughts were all muddled anyway. He smiled when he saw it was Ryan.

"Hey, how's the rock star?"

"Good, actually. Really good." She sounded excited. "Listen, I'll be leaving work soon. Could I come see you?"

"Sure. Wait, what time is it?"

"It's, um, a little after five. Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No, no. I'm just trying to get myself awake. Would you be up for meeting somewhere? I need dinner, you need dinner, and I don't have anything here. I cleaned stuff out before I left."

"Can I talk you into take-out, or ordering in?"

"Yeah, no problem. Everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I just don't feel like going to a restaurant. Mostly I don't feel like dealing with people. It's been one of those days at work."

"Am I not people?"

"You're the only person I'd like to see."

Brody smiled at that. "That's nice to hear. Sure, why don't you come up here whenever you get back? I missed you, you know."

"Okay. That sounds good. I missed you, too."

"All right, then. I'll be here."

"Thanks, Brody. Bye. See you in a while."

He put the phone in his pocket and went to the kitchen drawer that held the take-out menus. Maybe they could try Indian. He hadn't had that in a while, and thought Ryan would probably like it, or at least be willing to try it. She made up for her inability to cook with her curiosity about new foods. He was flipping through the menus when the phone rang again; he answered without looking at the display.

"Have to work late, sweetheart?"

There was a pause and then a man's voice said, "Not tonight, baby."

Brody groaned. "Hi, Rick. Sorry."

"What was that all about?"

"Ryan called a few minutes ago to say she was leaving work, so I thought she was changing plans. What's up, man? Or did you just call to hassle me?" Brody wandered into the living room and sat on the couch.

"No, you just gave me an opportunity to hassle you."

Rick was teasing, but there was little humor in his voice. Brody frowned; something wasn't right. He got a nervous feeling in his stomach. Had something happened to their parents? To one of Rick's kids? "Is everything okay, Rick?"

"Well, yes and no. I mean, I'm fine and so are Amy and the kids, but ... oh, hell. Amy and I are separating. I just wanted you to hear it from me."

"Oh." Brody was silent for a minute. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too."

"So what happened?"

"It's not all of a sudden, if that's what you mean," Rick said. "I don't know. It's one of those things where little problems pile up and then you have this huge mountain of problems that you can't get out from under."

"But everything seemed so cool at Christmas."

"I know, and I'm sorry. It wasn't completely an act, but we were trying to keep everything quiet. We were still talking and thinking about what to do. That weekend I told you Amy took her kids to her mom's? That was the real starting point. She said we needed time to think, and so she went there while I stayed home. I did have to work, but still, I needed to think about things."

"Did you guys try, I don't know—did you talk to anyone? A counselor or something?" Brody tried to wrap his brain around the news; Rick and Amy were one of the most stable couples he knew.

"Yeah, we tried, and we still are, but we thought separating at this point is best for everyone. Amy and I are so tense, and we snap at each other all the time even though we try not to. You can tell the kids know something's wrong, even as young as they are. I'm moving into an apartment this weekend; Dad and Josh are going to help me." Rick sounded resigned.

"But—but what was it?"

"It was a lot of things, I guess. We drifted apart some. I'm working a lot, I think that was the last straw. Amy works too, of course, and she was getting mad at me taking on overtime. And—never mind, there's just a bunch of other stuff on top of it and, well, this is where we are."

Brody sank back on the couch. He'd never heard his brother like this and wasn't sure what to say. "I'm really sorry, man. I had no idea."

"I know. Sorry. No one did; we wanted it that way. Well, Carla had a feeling, but you know how she is. Practically psychic."

"Yeah, I know."

"Look, Brody, I have to go. Thanks for listening."

"Not a problem. Call me anytime."

"Thanks. I'll send you my new address soon, and my cell and email won't change. Take it easy, and good luck, okay?"

"Okay, thanks. And seriously, call me if you need to."

"All right. Later, kid."

Brody closed his phone and sat on the couch, staring at the wall. He wasn't sure any family news short of his parents divorcing could have surprised him more than this.

He'd never thought about Rick and Amy having problems. If he had, he guessed, he'd supposed they had them just like anyone else. He would never have considered they had anything serious enough to lead to separation. It was lucky, he thought, that he and Ryan didn't have problems like that.

Would they? The idea brought him up short. Rick said part of his and Amy's problems came down to his work schedule. Rick's work schedule was nothing compared with Brody's; Rick worked the occasional overtime, but at least he could come home every night. Rick didn't travel for days at a time for work like Brody did.

Ryan had never complained about Brody's traveling, but would she?

x-x-x-x

Ryan knocked on Brody's door, bursting to tell him about the tour. Word had gotten around, and she'd gotten congratulatory calls from Annette and others, but it wasn't quite the same. She was about to knock again when he opened the door.

"Hey, come on in." Brody held the door open for her.

"Thanks." Ryan's excitement dropped a few notches. Brody looked and sounded far different than he had on the phone earlier. "You okay?"

"Sure. What's up?" He closed the door.

"I, um, I have news."

"Yeah? Good news?"

"Yeah. We got picked up for the tour." She couldn't stop a grin.

"Hey, that's great."

Ryan was taken back at his muted reaction. "It is. Ah, Lara called today and told me. We're all pretty excited. I'll be anxious and all in a few days, but for now it's kind of wild." Her own enthusiasm was down considerably.

He nodded. "That's fantastic."

"Thanks." Ryan felt deflated; she could see he was preoccupied and his smile looked forced. "So, how was your day?"

"Okay. Just recovering from the trip."

"You did sound tired when I talked to you earlier."

He shrugged. "It's the downside of all the travel. Sometimes your internal clock just gets all messed up and it takes a little bit to reset it. I'll be good tomorrow."

"That's good." Ryan blanked on what to say next. Brody sounded so flat, unlike himself.

"You up for some food?" Brody didn't hassle her on her eating, another wrong note.

"Sure. And, maybe a movie or something?"

"Yeah, maybe. How does Indian food sound?"

"Like something new and different. I've never had it before."

"How'd you manage that? There are tons of Indian restaurants around here."

She shrugged. "I don't know, just never came up I guess. My parents think ethnic food begins and ends at Chinese. With the band, we tend to do that or Thai or pizza."

"Want me to help you pick from the menu, then? Some Indian stuff can be pretty spicy."

"Sounds good."

They sat on the couch and went over the menu. After Brody placed the order, Ryan reached over and put a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"

"Hmmm?"

"It looks like something's on your mind. Is anything wrong? Do you want me to go?"

"No, no. I'm sorry. I just—I got some bad news after I talked to you before."

"What happened?"

"My brother called. He and his wife have decided to separate. It's just a huge shock. I mean, Rick and Amy." Brody slumped back onto the cushions. "I can't believe it."

"Oh, wow. I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, me too. Rick said they were keeping it low-key, and they're going to see a counselor, but he's moving out."

"Do you think they might get back together later?"

"I don't know. I mean, I hope so."

Ryan didn't know what to say; she felt as though everything was off-kilter. Brody was the one who knew what to say, who always had a joke to cheer her up. She didn't think she'd ever seen as upset as he was now.

"It's just so hard to believe." Brody was incredulous. "They seemed to have it all and be handling everything really well. I mean, I know it can't be easy with both parents working; it wasn't easy for my parents. But they did it, so I guess I figured Rick and Amy would, too."

"They still might, though."

Brody shook his head. "I don't think so. Rick sounded like he thought it was over. I keep thinking how Bax has his family in Boston, but they seem okay. If Bax and his wife can keep it together, with all the traveling and separation, how come Rick can't, when he doesn't have to do any of that?"

"It's tough, but everybody's different." Ryan thought for a minute. She'd talked with Bax a few times when she'd met Brody and his teammates after games and he seemed like a good guy. "Bax is older and has a different perspective on it. Maybe your brother and his wife just need to get some perspective."

"Maybe." Brody didn't sound convinced.

The food came and Brody suggested she try the chicken biryani. "It's probably not as spicy as what I ordered," he told her. "Might be good to start slow."

Ryan nodded and took a bite. It was good, but it was hot. "Water, please," she said as she gulped air.

Brody gave her a small smile and handed her a piece of naan bread instead. "Here, try this. And take some of this for the rest of it." He gave her a small container.

She ate the bread, then took a deep breath and chanced a drink of water. "Okay, better. What's in that?"

"Plain yogurt. It'll help cut the heat like sour cream does with Mexican food. Water spreads the heat around, so you're better to drink milk or have something like this."

"Good to know." She tried another bite, this time with the yogurt. "Yes, much better. Man, if this is spicy, I don't think I should try what you have."

"Well, there's plenty of yogurt if you get adventurous."

"I think I've had enough adventure for now."

They ate in silence for a while. Ryan decided she liked it enough that she might try it again, provided there was an ample supply of naan and yogurt. When they were finished, she helped him sort through the leftovers and clean up. Brody was quiet during the whole process, and Ryan was stumped on what to do.

"Look, I can go if you want," she said.

He turned and put a hand on her shoulder. "No, I'd like you to stay. Besides, we haven't had dessert yet."

She smiled. "That sounds great. But it can be simple. I'm good with cookies."

"Please. Like I'd give my girlfriend mere cookies." He scoffed and sent her into the living room. A few minutes later he came out with two bowls and handed her one. "See, it's cookies and ice cream."

"My favorite."

"Nothing but the best. Here, a toast to Imaginary Grace and the tour." They clinked their spoons together. "I really am happy for you, Ryan, and the others. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm not; I'm just not great company right now.

"That's okay."

Brody found a movie and they watched as they ate. Ryan couldn't concentrate on the movie. She wondered if she should bring up meeting her parents, or if she should wait. The problem with waiting was that she knew if she didn't do it now, she'd continue putting it off and then the waiting would become as bad or worse than the actual event.

She ate the last of her cookie and glanced at Brody. He was staring at the television but she could tell he wasn't seeing it. It was too bad about his brother, she thought. She remembered when Lara's parents had divorced, and it had been pretty ugly, with Lara in the middle. She hoped that Brody's nephews made out okay; she didn't know if it was better or worse that they were younger than Lara had been.

Once more she debated asking Brody about meeting her parents. It's not like he has to go tonight, she thought. I'm just asking if he'd be willing at some point in the near future. That's not so bad. I hope.

"Hey." She nudged his arm. When he didn't respond, she did it again.

"Hmmm? Sorry, what?"

"I had a favor to ask, if you don't mind. Nothing that has to happen immediately or anything."

"Sure. Shoot."

"Would you be okay with meeting my parents? Sometime?"

He gave her a half-smile. "Sure, no problem."

Ryan felt panic rise despite his positive response. "I'm not trying to pressure you, just so you know. And I'm not trying to, I don't know, look for more of anything. I just thought it's been a little while and Evan said something to them and so Mom's asked a few questions and it'd just be easier if you met them." She was out of breath when she finished.